As you know, since last year we have been part of Demcon. We have since moved into a new office at the Kennispark in Enschede. It is a great company to be part of and an inspiring place to work.
How not to give instructions
From time to time, people still come by to carry out small jobs in the building. That was also the case last week. A technician arrived who needed to remove a “pareltje” from one of the meeting rooms and mount a television on the wall at another location. That is what it said in his app. Did we know where he was supposed to go?
A “pareltje”? The technician had no idea what it was. Neither did we. In one meeting room, there was nothing on the wall, so that definitely was not the right place. In the other meeting room, we also could not find anything that resembled a “pareltje”.
Together, we consulted Dr. Google. We found plenty of images of pearls and jewelry, but that did not help us any further.
The technician left to work on something else. Today, I saw him again and asked if he now knew what the “pareltje” was. With a broad smile, he and his colleague told us that it had become clear to them. The “pareltje” turned out to be a humorous label for a beautiful television that needed to be relocated. It immediately reminded me of the training sessions I have given on how to write good user manuals.
Advice 1: Always use one consistent term for the same object
One of the key tips I always shared was this: always use the same term for the same object. Do not refer to a television both as a “pareltje” and as a TV. People may assume these are two different things.
Advice 2: Be careful with figurative language in instructions
Another piece of advice was to be cautious with figurative language in instructions. For example, do not write: “Be careful with Delete All, before you know it the soup is ruined.” People might start wondering whether they have accidentally opened a cookbook. For the same reason, it is better not to call a television a “pareltje” in an instruction.
All in all, fond memories sparked by that “pareltje” on the wall.Would you like to work on improving your manuals and work instructions? Give us a call. We are happy to help. We know how to do this, and we would be glad to turn them into real gems together 😉!
PS: The idea that each linguistic form should preferably have one meaning, and conversely that each meaning should preferably correspond to one form, has a long history in linguistics. When I studied Dutch, Wilhelm von Humboldt was mentioned as the founder of this principle. Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Humboldt (1767–1835) was a German linguist, philosopher, and statesman, and co‑founder of the Friedrich‑Wilhelms‑Universität, now known as Humboldt University of Berlin. A bit of online research tells me that there is now some debate about whether he really was the original founder of this idea. For those interested, a nice topic to explore further.
Warm regards, Peter van Bart
info@eluxis.com
Linkedin: Peter van Bart
